One of the best things that ever happened to me was to visit Israel. It was like watching the bible come alive to visit site after site and actually stand in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jericho, the Valley of Megiddo, Mount Olives, the Wailing Wall, Golgotha, Bethlehem, and other places of biblical significance. My wife and I were both re-baptized in the Jordan River in the place it is believed that Jesus Himself was baptized by John the Baptist.
We were accompanied on this trip by famous gospel singer and songwriter Squire Parsons, his brothers, and several other gospel singers and many pastors. At each site of great import one of the preachers would preach a short sermon on what occurred in the very spot we were standing, and then the gospel singers would sing a hymn, and finally we would pray.
It was an awe inspiring trip and I’ve never felt so close to the Lord. In Israel it seems that with the possible exception of party town Tel Aviv, no matter where one goes, everyone is worshipping God continuously. Religious shrines and various sects and pilgrims are abundant, and singing and prayer can be heard throughout Israel, especially in Jerusalem.
One of the highlights of the trip came when we crossed the Sea of Galilee on a boat said to be the same design as those used by Jesus and his disciples. This is the same body of water that Jesus walked on and calmed the storm by ordering it to cease. We got right out in the middle of it on a beautiful evening and the boat stopped and Squire Parsons and his brothers sang that cherished gospel song that he wrote, “Beulah land”. Not an eye remained dry during that performance I tell you.
So that set the stage for the recent revelation in the news media that a bunch of congressmen went to the Sea of Galilee on a “fact finding trip”, went out to dinner at a restaurant that overlooks it, and proceeded to get drunk. Afterwards several members of the co-ed group stripped down in varying degrees and jumped into the Sea of Galilee. One of them stripped completely naked and went skinny dipping in this holy place. I usually rail about Democrats, but I’m sad to say that this bunch was a Republican group and the congressman that stripped down all the way was Kevin Yoder from Kansas.
I wonder what went through his mind. Did he want to return home and brag to all his buddies that he went skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee? If so, he got his wish because the entire world knows about it now.
Before becoming a Christian I was diagnosed by some psychiatrists as not having a conscience. I have thought about this often and have to admit that I really didn’t have a conscience and it was evident to me and others. If I had impregnated my girlfriend at this time in my life I wouldn’t have thought anything about getting her an abortion; nor did it bother me to beat someone senseless, (and to keep beating them even after they were knocked out cold). I would have thought it was funny to go skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee, and I have no doubt that I would have done so had I been given the opportunity.
I now know that abortion is wrong, and beating someone beyond recognition is wrong, and I know that desecrating a holy site would be wrong.
What changed?
The Lord transformed my life and the Holy Spirit entered my being and a conscience was born. The Bible states that the law is given to us in order for us to see how the sins in our life are wrong and that though we try our best we cannot possibly hope to keep from breaking at least some of them. It clearly establishes that all of us have sinned and according to Scripture and God’s holy unbending law that we should and will be sentenced to death for committing even one sin, thereby demonstrating the need for redemption through Jesus Christ in our lives. In other words God doesn’t save us for the good things we might do in life, but because of HIS mercy and love for us.
Psalms 51 tells us how King David, (described in the Bible as, “a man after God’s own heart”), prayed an anguished prayer whereby he virtually begged God for forgiveness. His sins were that he was having an adulterous affair with another man’s wife, he impregnated her, and then ordered that her husband be killed. The prophet Nathan called him out on it and suddenly he realized what he had done and then overwhelming remorse hit him right between the eyes.
I think this example clearly establishes that anyone and everyone is subject to temptation and sin. This example is extreme in that David was anointed to be a King by a prophet of God, he loved the Lord throughout his life, and was blessed. The very lineage of Jesus comes from the line of David and yet David had a man murdered after taking his wife…
Yikes! What does that say about us?
I suggest that you read this short chapter and visualize the incredible sorrow and guilt that he obviously felt and listen to his agonized penitent cries as he pleads for God not to withdraw His Holy Spirit from him. At one point David mentioned that he knew that God did not desire burnt sacrifices, but instead stated, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, and a broken and contrite heart”. And a broken spirit and contrite, (remorseful), heart David indeed had…
Anyone who sins will suffer consequence. David did for many years thereafter. I know that Kevin Yoder has been publically berated and has apologized numerous times for his actions. I give him the benefit of the doubt that he is sincere when he says he is sorry for what he did and not necessarily sorry just that he got caught. I will not set myself up as judge and/or condemn Kevin Yoder for what he did. I have sins a plenty to account for myself. The Bible states that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are in need of a broken spirit and contrite heart. I pray that Congressman Yoder understands this concept and will move forward accordingly if he has not done so already.
I was recently asked to serve on the Board of Directors for the Bill Glass prison ministry. My good friend former NFL superstar Bill Glass called me yesterday to welcome me to the board and during the conversation I told him that I knew that God had forgiven my sins, but to this day I still have a hard time forgiving myself. Bill told me that this line of thinking comes from satan and that indeed it could be considered arrogant not to forgive oneself; after all if Almighty God forgives me who am I to try and override His judgment?
Hmmm… It is easier said than done because some of my sins are insanely black, but then again we must keep in mind that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Bill has a point. If God forgives us we should do likewise and look forward and not back.
If you, like me, are having trouble forgiving yourself for sins against God and humanity, perhaps you should join me in humbly accepting His free gift and rejoicing in God’s incomprehensible love and mercy for us whom He loves in spite of our flaws and weaknesses…
Eph. 2:4
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much.
Titus 3:4
He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.